Sorsogon sends clearing team to Albay

LEGAZPI CITY –– Sorsogon Gov. Chiz Escudero on Tuesday sent a team to conduct clearing operations on the roads of Albay, one of the Bicol provinces severely hit by Super Typhoon “Rolly.”

“Although we were also hit, the damages are not on the scale of what our fellow Bicolanos in other provinces have suffered. Like a good neighbor, it is our duty to help them,” Escudero said in a statement.

The team––composed of representatives from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, the Department of Public Works and Highways in Sorsogon, the Sorsogon Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, and the Provincial Engineering Office)––started their road-clearing operations in Barangay Villa Hermosa of Daraga town, which is at the boundary of Sorsogon. They will advance toward the town of Polangui in Albay.

The team also brought with them food packs that would be given to those who would help them in their clearing operation in Albay’s barangays.

The food packs were part of the “food-for-work” program of Sorsogon, where individuals who would help in clearing operations during calamities get to receive food packs as a form of compensation.

Escudero said he would also send teams to Catanduanes, which bore the brunt of Rolly’s winds, once ferry service between mainland Bicol and the island-province resumes.

“As soon as ferry services resume, we will also send a similar group to the one we sent in Albay, who will also conduct clearing operations as well as operate water-filtration devices to make potable water available to everyone,” Escudero said.

The governor said the team heading for Catanduanes would bring 1,500 sacks of rice that would be distributed to affected families.

“Kaunting tulong lamang ito para sa mga kapwa naming Bicolano para sama-sama at sabay-sabay kaming makabangon mula sa pinsalang dinulot ng bagyong Rolly sa ating rehiyon, he said.

((It’s a small help for our fellow Bicolanos, so together, we can rise from the devastation brought upon the region by Rolly.)

ZB